Getting Back in the Saddle after a fall

Getting back in the saddle after a fall resulting in injury can vary from a few days or even many months, so what advice should riders take on their road to recovery? Très Health, is a unique health and fitness centre for equestrians working or living in London or in reach of London and offers a range of services from core strength training, massage, physiotherapy, life coaching and injury rehabilitation programmes. Based in Chelsea, Très Health Equestrian has the experts and the facilities to help riders become the best they can.

Here are their 5 top tips for getting back in the saddle:

• First things first. If you’ve taken a fall, always get yourself checked out by a professional. Be it at hospital, doctor or physio. Even if you might be just bruised, a fall or knock that have an effect on the alignment of the body and causes uneven symmetry over time and impact on issues later on in life so always best to check!
• Take things slowly. We know it’s tempting to get back on as soon as possible but follow medical advice and don’t push your body beyond it’s capacities in the early stages of recovery.
• Don’t forget that your confidence can also take a knock after a fall, so don’t dismiss the mind as well. We offer life coaching as part our service as we feel it sits in harmony with our whole holistic approach to rider injury recovery.
• Get yourself a physio recovery programme tailored specifically for you. Exercises, which you can do at home or at the gym, will help build strength and support your vision to get back in the saddle and/or improve.
• Be prepared to take some steps back before you can really move forward after injury. Just like our horses, we don’t all mend at the same rate and at the speed we want, so have a focus and plan in place, but be prepared to adapt to accommodate long term health as opposed to a short fix which could have implications in the future.

If you’ve had a period out of the saddle, it’s important to take your time in building and re-establishing core strength and your centre of gravity in the saddle. This will take time so don’t rush it. A lunge lesson will with no stirrups is an excellent way to help develop your seat by improving balance.

By making a realistic plan, and sticking to it, you can be sure you’re hitting goals – as you go – which will further help motivate yourself to keep going.

If your horse hasn’t been ridden during your time off, make sure your first few outings work on some long and low exercises to encourage a good stretch under saddle. Work on lunging to help improve the horse’s back muscle and when you’re on the ground, try stretching to help loosen any stiffness in the horse’s hamstrings, neck and rest of the body. An equine physio will be able to offer methods to follow, and can give your horse a good massage at the same time.